Ask Jason Whitlock a question, and you're going to get a straight answer — whether you like it or not. After years of guest-hosting programs such as ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," the provocative Fox Sports columnist is getting his own TV show on FS1. Whitlock is teaming up with another ex-ESPNer, Colin Cowherd, for the new "Speak for Yourself," a one-hour show that premieres June 13 (6 p.m. ET).

"Speak for Yourself" comes on the heels of a bittersweet moment for 49-year old Whitlock. ESPN finally launched "The Undefeated," last week. ESPN boss John Skipper recruited Whitlock to be editor-in-chief of the so-called "Black Grantland" back in 2013. But the longtime columnist for ESPN, Fox and the Kansas City Star floundered as a manager.

The website about the intersection of sports, race and culture languished in development hell for years. The lowest moment came when Skipper stripped Whitlock of his editor's title — and effectively banished him from a site built originally around him and his opinions. ESPN then bought out the remainder of Whitlock's contract, leading to his return to Fox.

About seven months after Grantland bit the dust in the wake of Bill Simmons' acrimonious departure from ESPN, "The Undefeated" finally lives — under new editor-in-chief Kevin Merida. Sporting News discussed that and more with Whitlock in a lengthy interview recently. How much of his original editorial vision does he see in the finished site?

We also wanted to know why Simmons can't seem to get over being dumped by ESPN — despite having a TV deal with HBO and an upcoming website, "The Ringer." We discussed Whitlock's social media battles with everyone from author/journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates of "The Atlantic" to Deadspin. As usual, Whitlock didn't hold back during the Sporting News exclusive Q&A that was conducted by email. He also addressed his own embarrassing tweet about Asian-American NBA star Jeremy Lin back in 2012 that led him to publicly apologize.

What follows is a transcript of Sporting News' conversation with Whitlock.

SN: FS1’s Jamie Horowitz told me he wants to create studio shows around sports “opinionists” such as yourself, Colin and Skip Bayless. Why do you think his new strategy for FS1 will work — when almost all of FS1’s previous studio shows have flopped?

Whitlock: I think Colin and I have a dynamic relationship and interesting perspectives. It starts with our relationship. We’re two weirdos who love to examine society through the lens of sports. Colin is me if I embraced maturity and responsibility. He’s married with kids and looks at the world and sports from the perspective of an old jock who’s now a husband and father. He’s Bernie Mac from the Bernie Mac TV sitcom. I’m Fat Sam Malone from Cheers. It’s an incredible dynamic that I think people will be attracted to. It’s already playing out on his radio show. Our conversations on "The Herd" are irreverent, insightful and original. That’s a great combination. Based on the loud whining across the internet, it seems obvious people in Bristol and elsewhere are aware of Jamie’s track record of building shows that matter. I believe it’s going to work because everyone else is reacting like they know it’s going to work.

SN: We reported last week that Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead is poised to become a regular on "Speak For Yourself." How will he fit into the show?

Whitlock: I’m not sure if he’s officially on board. But I’ll say this. McIntyre and I have been friends for nearly 10 years. Colin and Mac have been friends for a long time. Professionally, I consider McIntyre a younger brother. He’s like me and Colin’s little brother. He’s an energizer, a potential spark-plug element that Jamie views as vital to the show.

SN: What segments on FS1’s “Speak for Yourself” do you think will cut through with viewers?

Whitlock: All of ‘em! Jamie, occasionally to the annoyance of Colin and I, believes in testing. All the time. This process has been long and tedious. But I gotta admit we’ve landed in a good spot. All the segments fit together nicely to form a great-tasting soup. Colin and I get it started. Then we just add sparks that make every segment seem fresh, unpredictable and full of energy.

SN: Who are going to be some of your other contributors? I hear ex-NBA star John Salley had several auditions?

Whitlock: I’m not going to comment on this. But I’ve always wanted a lap dance from a Kardashian.

SN: You’ve tweeted over the years that Skip Bayless of ESPN is a fraud and an idiot. Do you expect any hard feelings when he joins FS1 as expected?

Whitlock: Judge my columns, enjoy my tweets. That’s my philosophy. But, yes, I’ve written some columns that have been critical of Skip. Things change, people change, opinions change. I’ve also said publicly for more than a year that Skip Bayless has evolved and pivoted from his early work on "First Take." I respect Skip, especially his preparation. I don’t have any hard feelings. Skip and I have written and said some tough things about athletes, coaches and executives whom we’ve later come to respect. I don’t see any problems. We talked privately at this year’s Super Bowl.

SN: You guest-hosted ESPN's "PTI" many times. What did you learn from Mike Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser and Erik Rydholm about making a successful studio show?

Whitlock: That relationships matter the most. The respect, rapport and trust that Mike, Tony, Erik and Matt Kelliher have make the show work. As a fill-in, I worked to have that same level of respect, rapport and trust. My job as a fill-in was to make Tony and Mike look good and feel comfortable. Trust is what leads to the best conversations. People take chances and say what they really think when they trust the person they’re engaging with. The PTI group has a lot of trust. It’s critical to work with people you trust.

SN: But Mike and Tony have been friends for more than 30 years going back to the Wasington Post. How can you and Colin duplicate that kind of relationship in a few months?

Whitlock: Duplication won’t happen. But Colin and I can trust each other. We do. What we’ll try to do is build a more dynamic, fascinating, provocative relationship than what’s out there in sports television. We work at FOX, the place that produces Empire, Family Guy, FOX News and did the Bernie Mac Show. We have a bigger playground. We need to use all of it.

SN: Katie Nolan just won an Emmy for "Garbage Time." Should Jamie Horowitz and Charlie Dixon give her her own daily weekday show? What do you think of Nolan so far?

Whitlock: Not my lane to discuss programming decisions. But Katie is great. She adds tremendous diversity to our network. Her point of view and sensibilities appeal to a different audience. That’s great. We want to reach all sports fans.

SN: So you’re rooting for "The Undefeated?" You’re not angry about the way things ended there? Some people read your tweets supporting the site as you trying to be falsely magnanimous.

Whitlock: Ha. I’m many things, magnanimous, classy and false are not high on the list. People I respect and care about work for the site. I desperately want them to be successful and secure. In addition, the site and the launch of the site are a great look for me. The worse thing that could’ve happened is the site not launching. The best thing was the site launching with a staff of nearly 50. Holy cow! I spent my first year back at ESPN wrestling with people about needing a staff of more than a dozen. Grantland and 538 had huge staffs. The people I reported to in year 1 said we would do the site with a dozen. The whole reason we wrote an entire playbook was a tactic to argue for a legitimate headcount. The playbook and the early stories written by Jesse Washington (Charles Barkley), Mike Wise (John Wall) and Brando Starkey (Mayweather-Pacquiao) were done to open people’s minds to the ambition and potential of the site.

SN: How much of your original vision do you see in the finished product?

Whitlock: Our original vision is the site. I use the word “our” intentionally. John Skipper, Jesse Washington, Mike Wise, John Hassan and Amy Barnett helped me formulate the original vision. It was a group effort that eventually included Danielle Cadet, Justin Tinsley, Jerry Bembry, Ryan Cortes and Brando Starkey. But it started with me and Skipper talking before I was hired. Then Jesse, Mike, Hassan and I talked endlessly for a year. Jesse and Mike weren’t even on staff. They were still working at the AP and the Washington Post, respectively. Then Amy Barnett joined the conversation, months before she was hired. For no money, people poured their souls into The Undefeated. Hassan and I were the only ones getting paid by ESPN. But if you read the much-maligned playbook, it’s a blueprint for what The Undefeated is. It’s all in there. It’s comical. People think I’m ashamed of the playbook. I gave it to anyone and everyone at ESPN and people outside ESPN. They all liked it when I gave it to ‘em and they followed it a year later. A kid, Dan Bohm, built the site a year ago under our direction. It’s the same site.

Whitlock: No. They paid me for those ideas. And I’m honored and flattered that they used them. They could’ve been petty and small and run away from our plans. I came up with the name "The Undefeated" the day Maya Angelou died. It took eight months to get the name approved. If Skipper and ESPN were petty, they would’ve renamed the site. But Skipper is a good dude. His intentions are tremendous. At the end of the day, I just wanted a robust site that was staffed with enough people to operate at a high level. I spent a year begging for the right to hire one person and for a staff of 20. The Undefeated got 40 plus! Man, what?

SN: Did you make a mistake by becoming an editor/manager during your second stint at ESPN -- rather than staying in your lane as a columnist?

Whitlock: Yeah, probably. However, it was a great learning experience. I learned a lot from my interactions and relationship with John Skipper. Really an invaluable life lesson and professional experience. I have no regrets. I’m grateful for the opportunity and forever in debt to Skipper and ESPN.

SN: Why is there acrimony between you and celebrated author/journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates? Did you make a mistake with him in your recruiting effort for "The Undefeated?"

Whitlock: Glad to clear this up. I was brought back to ESPN in August of 2013. I reached out to Coates via email in November of 2013. We had a brief 15- to 20-minute phone conversation. I was effusive in my praise of his writing talents. He expressed he was uninterested in leaving "The Atlantic." It was an exploratory, respectful conversation. I had no job to offer at the time. I wasn’t authorized to hire anyone. My first priorities were Jesse Washington and Mike Wise, two of my collaborators. It wasn’t until the Fall of 2014 and the new fiscal year that I was given the greenlight to hire anyone. My first two hires were Amy Barnett and Danielle Cadet. My next hires were in December of 2014 when I began reporting to Marie Donoghue. That’s when we were able to land Washington and Wise. In May of 2014, I emailed Coates to tell him how much I enjoyed "The Case For Reparations." I asked him to do a podcast interview. He said he would try to accommodate my request. It didn’t happen. I left him alone. Zero hard feelings. In 2015, stories started popping up referencing his friends/surrogates about how he turned me down for a job and how I offered to triple his salary. Then he later analogized me to a drug dealer during a radio interview. Then I made the mistake of purchasing and reading "Between the World and Me," his bestselling book. It’s a hopeless, God-less, Marxist book that allegedly is written for the edification of young black people. Any understanding and appreciation of the magnificent and courageous African-American journey is respectful of our relationship with religion and a Higher Power. What’s between the world and Ta-Nehisi Coates is an understanding of the power of prayer, hope, faith and Jesus. Feeding young people a beautifully written and seductive hopeless ideology is wishing destruction on them. The book helped me fully understand what he represents. Coates’ pro-black shtick is how elitist, Talented Tenth-believing black people try to be pro-black. They use their platforms to whine publicly about the harrowing, state-sanctioned plunder they suffered while purchasing a $2 million home. That’s not hate. I live a pampered life, too. I just try to have enough self-awareness to know my 1-percent problems are unworthy of a full column on a major media platform. I thought and think Coates would benefit greatly from working in a black media environment. His ideas need to be vigorously challenged by black people, particularly those of us who realize the danger of separating faith from fate.

SN: Bill Simmons has taken a different tone than you since he was dropped by ESPN. He’s been far more combative. Seems angrier. Why?

Whitlock: Different agendas. Different histories. My agenda was to be part of a strategic plan to create a media platform for black journalists. When Skipper removed me from "The Undefeated," I was devastated for 36 hours. Cried like a baby. Then I got back on task. I didn’t and don’t want to do anything to hurt "The Undefeated." My relationship with ESPN was different than Simmons’. ESPN made Bill Simmons. The Kansas City Star made me. When I left Kansas City, I was angry and bitter. I never wanted to leave newspapers. I wanted to be Mike Royko. I did a three-hour radio/TV show expressing my anger and bitterness toward KC Star management. I got it off my chest in those three hours and pretty much moved on. Simmons is working out his bitterness. It will pass.

Keeping a list of all the ideas/columns/premises that ESPN talent has hijacked from me and/or Grantland these past few months. So shameless.

SN: You, Simmons and Keith Olbermann all ripped NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell across different ESPN platforms. You’re now all gone from the WWL. Coincidence? Does the NFL exert too much influence over ESPN?

Whitlock: Coincidence. The NFL exerts influence over all media.

SN: You’ve written that “hipster bloggers” have turned Twitter into the “angriest, politically correct safe space on the planet.” Who are you talking about here?

Whitlock: Gawker, Deadspin, Awful Announcing, Social Justice Warriors and their token black friend who tweets support of Black Lives Matter. The leaders of groupthink.

SN: So why are you still on Twitter if it’s tired and played out?

Whitlock: I still garner some enjoyment out of Twitter. I’m not the type to let the groupthinkers run me out of anywhere. It’s like, I love America despite having some complaints about the uneven playing field. I’d rather fix/improve America than relocate. Twitter is in much worse shape than America, but I ain’t moving. Twitter’s impact on media narratives is too harmful to just leave. Someone has to piss into the wind.

SN: Since his firing, Curt Schilling argues ESPN has a double-standard when it comes to conservative and progressive voices. Did you notice a liberal bias at ESPN?

Whitlock: Twitter, Facebook and all of social media are slanted toward a hyper-left-wing point of view. Social media influence the mainstream media, which ESPN is a part of. Deadspin recently wrote a piece championing ESPN’s direction. I think that says a lot about ESPN’s political point of view. There’s no double-standard at ESPN. There’s a standard. ESPN wants to please the social media forces.

SN: You’ve campaigned for years for African-Americans to stop using the N-word. What did you think when host Larry Wilmore jokingly directed the N-word at President Obama during the White House Correspondents dinner?

Whitlock: Clown. A desperate clown. His TV show can’t get any traction so he called President Obama the N-word in front of white people to make himself relevant. It’s what you do when you’re in identity and career crisis. It’s what the completely assimilated do to mask their assimilation.

SN: You’re not writing on your J-School blog as much lately. Why not? And once "Speak For Yourself" premieres, and you’re doing TV five days a week, will you continue to blog?

Whitlock: What I’ve found out is that TV development requires more time, energy and thought than I ever imagined. Did I mention that Jamie and Charlie Dixon like to test? I’ve been all in on this TV show. J-School will return!!! I promise.

SN: What did you think of the Julie Stewart-Binks/Rob Gronkowski lap dance controversy from your Super Bowl TV show? Stewart-Binks said other female journalists "slut-shamed" her over the incident.

Whitlock: Blaming Julie Stewart-Binks for a line that Gronkowski allegedly crossed is the definition of sexism. In addition, we’re FOX Sports. David Hill once launched a group of digital TV shows on FOXSports.com by flashing boobs. We’re FOX. We’re Empire. We’re Family Guy. We’re Bernie Mac. We’re Bill O’Reilly. We’re not politically correct. We’re America. We like to have fun. We laugh at ourselves. When you push the envelope you occasionally break the seal.

SN: It sounds like you believe what you do fits in better at FOX than ESPN?

Whitlock: Uh, yeah. That’s one of the life lessons I learned at ESPN. Eric Shanks, David Hill and Rick Jaffe stood by me when I made a terrible mistake (Jeremy Lin tweet). They let me grow up from that. I’m a FOX guy. I go all the way back to John Entz and the Best Damn Sports Show! Look at how FOX has nurtured Michael Strahan into superstardom. No one would give Bernie Mac a show. FOX did. Terry Bradshaw’s NFL persona birthed Charles Barkley’s NBA persona. FOX is the right place for creative, bold risks-takers. The team Jamie is putting together — Charlie Dixon, Cowherd, Katie, Player To Be Named Later, etc. — is bold and fearless.